Nirmala for competition in public procurements

Public procurement, which accounts for 30 per cent of the country's GDP, needs to be opened to "fair competition", Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.
"Public procurements have got to be opened to fair competition...," she said at the second edition of National Conference on Economics of Competition Law held here.
"What is the extent of public procurement in India? Today 30 per cent of our GDP in India goes under the public procurement bracket and most of it is coming from defence, railways, and telecom sectors," she said.
She also said the Competition Commission of India (CCI) needs to continue to be a dynamic regulatory institution, nuancing its position keeping in view the stage of economic development of the country and the diversity of the economy.

She urged that it must develop sectoral understanding and engage experts for this purpose.
Sitharaman said India cannot and should not be compared to other countries like Singapore or China that have followed different development strategies.

She added India can not open its economy like Singapore as the development in the country is not evenly spread.
She also stated that central government is balancing the privatisation process with supporting the private sector in terms of providing level-playing field.
"Entry and exit is a critical thing when you talk about fair trade," she added.